Amazing Philippines

The Gurls

For the fifth straight year, the STI Tabulation team will once again support the number one gay pageant in the country – the Search for Amazing Philippines 2010. In a press conference at the Sofitel Hotel, Amazing Philippines Organizer Mr. Cassie Villarosa mentioned the difficulties they had in starting the pageant 8 years ago but eventually hailed his team for what it is now. The pageant has grown bigger and produced world class talents.

Simply Amazing

Unlike in the previous years, this year the candidates will have four nights for their pre pageant in four different bars. This is something new considering they usually held this part of the pageant a week before the event and it was usually in their own theatre. Now they are coming out to show to other people the wonderful talent they have. Event night is on November 26, 2010 at the Manila Film Center, see you there.

2009 Ms. Amazing Philippines

Mhel's Gurls

When puberty was upon me, I was just like any teen-ager who was shy to talk to the opposite sex since I came from an exclusive all boys High School. But because of countless soirees and parties I eventually overcame my fear of talking to girls and came out as someone adored and respected by a lot. From High school to College, to my St. Scho friends, and now STI family I have always been a ladies man. Here are some friends from my party who are with me most of the time this year.

The Voluptuous

and Generous Mina

The Dependable Des

The Charming

but Reluctant Shy Girl

The very thoughtful Krisvi

The Wonderfully Dazzling

Diane

The Sultry & Always Sexy

Zyanya "Always"

The Apple of my Eye,

Apple D.

The Stunning & Bodacious RJ

The Gorgeous & Vivacious Ivhy

The Sweet & Sultry Temptress

Louise

The Classy and Ethereal Cathy

Another year

My HS Barkada and Mama

When I was a little boy up to my teen age years I was always excited whenever the day of my birthday comes. It was the time that I was always all smiles and had a certain swagger because I was the center of attention. That time I really enjoyed getting so much attention and during my birthday, it was always a week of getting greetings and gifts. I would always tell everyone that it was my most important day and I was a happy moment to get greeted.

My Ateneo friends

In the 90's I used to host parties at my house for more than a hundred people. I always prayed that It wouldn't rain because most of my guests were in front of my house on the street. Back then we did not have a lot of neighbors that is why my parties would last until 5 am with more than 21 cases of beer and 10 bottles of hard liquor consumed. My party came to be known as Mhel's Octoberfest as it became the Mecca of my friends from Ateneo , St. Scho and PSBA.

Mhel's gurls

Times change, the last drinking party I hosted was the rain drained party of mine in 2001. After that I deferred from having parties for various reasons. Last year, my fortieth birthday fell on Sunday and I asked some close friends to come along and celebrate that important day of my life. The setting was simple and it was a time to bond with my closest friends.

My top 5

Since last year's lunch party was successful, I did again this year by inviting my closest friends a select group of 30 people who I enjoy hanging out with from Ateneo and from the office. I have outgrown the drinking marathons and drink till you drop parties and settled for a simple Sunday get together. I have turned into a simple person who just wants to be with friends on my birthday, some people who have celebrated with me through the years and some who I managed to be close with the past few years.

My favorite gift

My life has endured many ups and downs and I am just happy that inspite all of the imperfections it has, I am still blessed by the Lord. As I move on to another Year I thank the Lord for all the friends I have gained who are my only treasure and excited for the others I will have in the future. I pray that the next year will yield more blessings and happy moments with my family.

Highlights from my party

Jerome left early but the

Twergs are still at it

MY STI FAMILY

My Godchildren

EJ and Zerina Tan

with their daughter Zianna

Three beauties

Louise, RJ and Ivhy

RJ, Always,Krisvi and Cathy

Mah Luvs

Mhel and the Beauties

The picture sez it all

Mah Gurls

Random Thoughts

There are times that things get into my mind and I don't know what to do. Just like now, here are some random thoughts about the UAAP.

• Nico Salva bailed us out in many games that is why he is our hero. The Salva-Bida!
• Art dela Cruz Jr. is one tough player who always plays 100%. As his kapampangan friends would say..he is all Art.
• Whenever Coach Pido Jarencio calls out Jeric Teng from the bench he always sings "I dont wanna close my eyes...Coz I miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a Teng!"
  

• Some things to think about, Coach Castro is not a man he is a boy, Monfort on the other hand is not a boy, he is a man, JP is not a goat he is Erram!
• Cocoy Hermosisima sports a chicken like hair-do…..now he is blaming his mother about it…Cocoy Hair mo sisi ma.
• What is the best guard – center tandem of the Blue Eagles? Jumbo Escueta and Emman One-Fort

• Whenever Frank Golla gets the rebound he usually looks for either Eman monfort or Kirk Long. He never passes the ball to anyone. That’s Frank - straight to the point.

• Jan where are you going…am going to call my mother..Ok Coach, Jan will Colina.

• Kirk Long will be coming out with his latest line of colognes for basketball players named Kirk CoLogne

• Jens Knuttel didn’t call out the play so Pipo Nondou did nothing and eventually lost the ball…..They say that Jens “No Tell so Pipo None Do!”.

• Eric Camson is always late so whenever coach Leo asks where he is they all answer Eric will come soon.

• There is always a void in the Tigers defense because of their center Carmelo Afuang…there is always afuang in the middle.

• RR Garcia told rookie sensation Terrence Romeo to change his hairdo into something similar to him. This made the headlines with RR saying “Romeo must Dye!”
• Lastly..we will be waiting soon for the Ateneo four-peat which we can call the Buena-Four! Antay antay lang.
  

10-10-10 Run for Pasig River

The family that runs together
eats more after

They came from all walk of life, they are from different shapes and sizes. No matter what income bracket you come from or age group everyone was in it did not matter, what mattered was that everyone was in support of the cause for Pasig River. The project named 10 10 10 Run for Pasig River was sprearheaded by Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN foundation, this project seeks to restore the beauty of the Pasig River. The Run for Pasig River is targeting 120,000 runners from different sectors namely government offices, schools, business corporations and even civic groups.

Mah Gurls

As early as 3:30 am most of the groups were already preparing to go to the Fun Run. I myself wanted to be early because I wanted to get a parking slot where the run will start. My sister and nephews were also a part of another group. My sister Elaiza Garrido – Jordan, his son Josh and another nephew Janis Garrido went with the ABS – CBN contingent. One very nice identifying mark of their group was the nice T shirt they had. Another nephew Mikko Garrido was there for his school the Central Colleges of the Philippines. I went with my partner in crime RJ Marasigan and another officemate Bien Rubia.

Team STI in the run

We got to the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex by 4:00 am and looked for our STI Group. The STI students who came doubled every ten minutes as the 5,000 men strong STI students formed a big chunk of the runners. I never really checked but the run I think started at 6:00 am and we were so happy to start our 5 k run. The run had different starting points with the 3 kilometer run starting at the MOA grounds, our 5 kilometer run starting at the CCP Complex, the 10 kilometer run commencing at the Ayala avenue and the 21 kilometer run starting at Camp Aguinaldo.

A shot of the runners from the Buendia bridge

I am just happy to be a part of this historic run and as we have said, this might be the start of something great for me. The only concern was that the restoration of Pasig River needs a lot of trash to be extracted from the river, unfortunately the big event that cashed in the money for its restoration created a lot of stir because of the amount of trash that was thrown in the event. Now that's what you call irony.

Showing off my Finisher's band

Blue Eagles feted in 2010 Bonfire

The highlight of the Ateneo bonfire was the introduction of the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Simply put, if there was no Ateneo Blue Eagles championship there is no bonfire. Case closed. Bonfire host Macky Escalona started out by giving graduating guard Eric Salamat some nice words. He said that he was on his 5th year when Eric came in and is happy to see him develop into the kind of player and person the Ateneo envisioned him to be when they recruited him. Another player who was given due recognition was Jumbo Escueta who will not be eligible anymore next year.

The scene immediately shifted to the Finals MVP Ryan Buenafe. Remember last year when Ryan said "Basta alam ko next year three-peat tayo!" Everyone laughed, but this year everyone was intent in hearing out what Ryan has to say about the chances of the team next year. He then said " I think Bacon should be the one who we should ask about it!" Then Bacon said " Next year Four-peat na tayo!"

Coach Norman Black was finally out to say what has happened. He knew right from the start that he had the tools to win a title. He described this year's Blue Eagles as the most hardworking. More importantly he said the Blue Eagles are all intelligent and sacrificed a lot. He mentioned that he started Emman Monfort in the finals because he matched up better with RR Garcia. He said Team Captain Eric Salamat gave his spot for the good of the team. As we all know the gamble paid dividends. Lastly he thanked the support of the Ateneo community. He said that seeing everyone in the games makes him proud and happy since Ateneo has always outnumbered each and every opposing UAAP Team.

Coach Norman eventually called the leaders of next year's team, the Blue Eagles who will be in their last year and lead the team - Kirk Long, Bacon Austria and Emman Monfort. Each of them thanked the Ateneo community for their support and asked them to support the team once again on their final year. Kirk Long was very vocal about the support everyone gets while Emman Monfort said that his role will be easier next year simply because of the additions next year.

Coach Norman then said, " We are excited next year because we have another good recruiting year. We hope that Kiefer considers staying in the Ateneo. Also is Greg Slaughter here?" Then for the first time, the 7- foot Greg Slaughter came out of his slumber and was introduced to the Ateneo community. He seemed to have dwarfed JP Erram and Coach Norman Black. He is definitely huge and the Ateneo hopefuls are expecting a huge game from him next year.

After all the talking, the emcees egged Eric Salamat to show again to the crowd his post game dance moves. If you were somewhere else during the awarding, Eric Salamat stole the show by dancing with the Blue Babble Battalion in a show of elation to the support of the BBB. He gamely agreed and the Eric Salamat dance was passed from Eagle to another Blue Eagle who also gamely showed their dance moves. It was a scene to behold and a scene that can only be seen in the Ateneo Bonfire.

Coach Norman led the lighting of the bonfire. Three straight and hopefully we can make it four straight. For the Ateneo Blue Eagles, hope springs eternal and we are sure that the challenges next year will be doubly hard, but rest assured Coach Norman will have the team ready for the war. All roads would have to go to Katipunan before any pretender can lay its hands on the UAAP Season 74 crown.

Bonfire 2010

The Ateneo de Manila University community celebrated for the third straight year their third UAAP Men's title in grand fashion. The Ateneo held a bonfire and a party to celebrate the victory of its teams that has won championships for the first semester. Leading the way is the three-peat feat of the Ateneo Blue Eagles. The first team that was called on stage was the Ateneo Grade School Small Basketeers Basketball team. The team is coached by PJ Navarro and is on its fourth straight championship. Coach PJ invited everyone to join them defend their title in the National Finals come in Cebu come the third week of November.

Another team that won another basketball championship is the Ateneo Grade School PRADA midgets basketball team. Headed by veteran coach Jun Bautista who has been coaching the team for the past 27 years together with assistant coach Omar Ajun who is also a graduate of coach Bautista's program. Leading the team who won by 20 points against San Beda was last year's SBP MVP Michael Nieto and his twin brother Matthew and Martin Mendoza. As Nieto would put it "We are happy with this title which proves we are the best in our batch!" Hope to see them don the Eaglets uniform two years from now.

Another team that was given the same warm treatment by the Ateneo loyalists was the Ateneo High School swimming team. This is the sixth straight year that the Ateneo High School swimming team has brought home the bacon. I remember when I was in High school until the six peat happened, the AHS swim team would win titles year in and year out, and would lose for not more than two years. They would recover easily.

Another team that was simply amazing is the Ateneo Blue Eaglets which won its third straight title. The Blue Eaglets is led by the phenom Kiefer Ravena who in his four years in High school has been in four UAAP finals and led this team to its third title. Together with Von Pessumal who flew with Kiefer to Yemen to join the 18 and under national team which placed 5th. This is the highest place the team has gotten in 20 years. Kiefer led the win against Japan by scoring 37 points and was voted in the All-Asia mythical 5. The Blue Eagles are hopeful that Ravena would stay in the country to play for them. The only stumbling block are the NCAA recruiters from abroad.

Chucky Dumrique, another vital cog in the team's three year romp also bade the Ateneo goodbye since he will be joining his family abroad after graduation. It was a tough decision to stay and his awesome performance in game 3 of the finals all than made up for his sacrifices. Besides Dumrique, Pessumal and Ravena, Paolo Romero the big man in the middle will also enter college next year. Manning the middle next year will be Jay Javelosa and another prized rookie Chris Porter. Junior guard Lambert Tenorio will most likely lead the guards next year. It is quite exciting to see the development of Javelosa who was a part of the 2007 SBP team and also played guard. With his height he can be a big small forward in the Juniors, shades of Wesley Gonzales.

Coach Jamike Jarin also spoke about his team. Jarin will be leaving the High School basketball program but will still be an assistant in the Seniors team. His replacement has not yet been named. In leaving the Eaglets, Jarin has captured 8 titles and has a bounty of players who are now successful in life. As former Blue Eagle and Eaglet Macky Escalona put it, the goal set by the Blue Eaglets by then HS Principal Fr. Carmelo Caluag, is for the Blue Eaglets to be good players, good athletes, good students and good persons in life. That alone clearly defines how the Ateneo runs it students athletes programs. Congratulations to all the teams and we hope you do it again next year.